Emirates president Tim Clark has warned established rivals that they risk going bust if they rely on old alliances that are coming unstuck in a fast-changing world.
Speaking at Arabian Travel Market this week, Clark said that in just seven years from now Emirates would be "50 to 80 per cent bigger than it is today".
And he warned rivals that the old ways of doing business and "patchwork quilts" of airline alliances were coming "unglued" in the face of a changing industry.
"You must go where your new markets are, you must react to those markets, and you must design your products to fit what is happening whether you like it or not.
"Because, if you don’t move at the pace they want you to move at, then you will perish," he warned.
Europe remains a "fortress" Clark said, and he called the fact the airline is not permitted to fly to Berlin "a pity".
"It’s not just our loss, it is a loss to the German travelling public," he said.
